All Ag Day celebrations have the same goal: helping people understand how food and fiber are produced and the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

But in Indiana, just how this is done varies from county to county.

“There are 92 different counties doing it 92 different ways,” said Liz Beiersdorfer, Dearborn County Extension director and Farm Bureau member.

One difference is when each county celebrates Ag Day. Ag Day 2025 is March 18, but counties can observe it on another day, as fits their schedules.

“We coordinate with our local high school’s FFA,” noted Pam Jones, Pulaski County Farm Bureau education and outreach coordinator, adding that this year’s event will be held in May.

2025 will mark the 36^th year for Dearborn County Ag Days, held in early fall. Every 3^rd grader in the county, whether they are at a public school, a private school or are home-schooled, is invited. Fourteen to 16 different stations are set up at the county fairgrounds. Last year over the two-day event, 625 students and 84 adults attended.

“The adults learn as much as the kids,” Beiersdorfer said.

It couldn’t happen without help from many partners, Beiersdorfer said, including the Dearborn County Soil & Water Conservation District, Zimmer Tractor, local farmers, local 4-H families, FFA, their local antique tractor group and others. Dearborn County Farm Bureau is also an active participant, providing meals for all the workers and volunteers.

The various stations are designed to let the kids find out about the “local agriculture that touches them every day,” she explained.

Topics explored include plant propagation, soil and water conservation, lawnmower safety, basic traditional skills such as hammering a nail and pumping a cistern, and poultry and livestock.

“The kids always love the animals,” she said. “Many have never touched a cow before.”

Teachers are sent a resource packet that can be used either before or after the field trip to help the kids understand what they see, she added.

Dearborn County follows up by surveying the classroom teachers, and the kids also get a packet that includes things like coloring books, handouts, seeds and information on 4-H.

“Every year they always say this is the best field trip of the year,” Beiersdorfer said.

Pulaski County’s Ag Day is held at the Winamac Town Park and is a one-day event focused primarily on kindergarten-3^rd grade, though some preschools also attend. During that one day, 350-400 kids will visit, Jones said.

Like Dearborn County’s Ag Day, Pulaski County’s event is made possible by partnerships with groups such as FFA, the county extension office, the Pulaski County Soil & Water Conservation District and Pulaski County Farm Bureau.

Farm Bureau participates by providing one of the learning stations. Jones said she’s grown potatoes in a cutaway pot, she’s offered a unit on earthworms – always very popular – and she’s featured soybeans, corn, popcorn and pollinators in different ways.

“I’ve had kids tell me that they’ve never tasted honey,” she said, so she’s offered honey sticks so they can have a taste.

“I try to do stuff that’s very important to agriculture that the kids may not know much about,” she said.

“The more creative I am, the more they pay attention and their retention is better,” she said.

“If you can involve their senses, I think they can remember better,” she added – and not just children. “If we can smell it, touch it, taste it, it stays in our minds better,” she said.